Honor Flight planned for Korean vets

Donations sought

June 19, 2013

The Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight is looking to take off again to transport Korean War veterans to Washington, D.C.

The committee that organized five such flights for World War II veterans in 2010 and 2011 is now trying to raise the $90,000 needed to pay for the voyage.

World War II veterans who didn't go on the previous local Honor Flights also are eligible for the trip. The cost per veteran is $600.

Veterans from are counties hoping to go on the flight must submit an application. The applications can be obtained by visiting local veterans affairs office.

The veterans will not have to pay for the trip.

Like the previous local Honor Flights, the proposed trip will start early in the morning at Fort Dodge Regional airport. The planeload of veterans and their escorts, called guardians, will travel to Dulles International Airport in the Virginia suburbs of Washington. There, the veterans will board the buses that will take them into the nation's capital to see the World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

Fact Box

How to Help

Donatiosn for the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight can be dropped off or sent to the Emmet County Veterans Affairs Office at the courthouse at 609 First Avenue North in Estherville.

All donations are tax deductible.

The trip will also feature a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown. Veterans will then visit the Iwo Jim memorial before board the buses for the return trip to Dulles International Airport. They will then fly back Fort Doge that night.

Donations of any amount will be welcomed.

For the Honor Flight, former service members will be considered Korean War veterans if they had at least one day of active duty between June 1, 1950 and Jan. 31, 1955.

Each veteran will be escorted by a guardian. People who volunteer to serve as guardians on the trip will have to pay $500 for their flight. Applications to serve as guardians are also available at area veterans affairs offices.

Delbert Peterson of Estherville is a Korean veteran who has applied for the trip.